The present invention relates to toilet paper holding devices. More specifically, the present invention related to a toilet paper roll holder including a channel for removably receiving a leg of a bedside commode and a toilet paper support arm for supporting the toilet paper thereon.
It is sometimes necessary or convenient to use a portable commode next to the bed of an infirm patient. For instance, elderly persons and patients recovering from an illness or surgery sometimes lack the physical strength needed to walk unassisted from their bed to a conventional bathroom facility in order to use the toilet. It also may be more convenient for a patient to use a bedside commode if they have medical equipment connected to their bodies, such as an IV tube or respiratory device, or if they are physically impaired due to a cast or other obstruction which makes it difficult to walk to a restroom. It is therefore not uncommon to find the use of bedside commodes in hospitals, nursing homes, and even private residences of elderly or recovering patients.
Despite their widespread and longstanding use, bedside commodes have not been known to include means to conveniently and effectively hold a roll of toilet paper in a manner that is most convenient for a user. Any person who has had the unfortunate need to use a bedside commode, as well as any caregiver who has assisted an infirm patient, knows all too well that the toilet paper is almost always out of reach and, many times, out of sight when it is needed. Often, patients must suffer the indignity of having to call for someone to bring them a roll of toilet paper while seated on the portable commode.
Moreover, current toilet paper holding devices meant to remedy the aforementioned shortcomings are not configured in such a way that they do not interfere with the use of the bedside commode. For instance, current toilet paper holding devices used with bedside commodes are configured to attach to an arm rest of the bedside commode, whereby the device suspends the toilet paper roll underneath the arm rest and immediately adjacent the seat and waste receptacle. Though well within reach, the proximity of the toilet paper roll to the waste receptacle is uncomfortable. Further, since they attach to the arm rest of the commode, they obstruct the arm rest of the commode while in use and interfere with the usage of the commode in general.
Accordingly, in view of the aforementioned shortcomings in the healthcare field, and particularly relating to the use of bedside commodes, there remains an urgent need for an inexpensive toilet paper roll holder which is particularly adapted for convenient, quick attachment to all brands and styles of bedside commodes in order to operably support a roll of toilet paper within convenient reach of a person seated on the commode, while neither obstructing the arm rest nor interfering with the use of the commode.